“It’s a pleasure to be nominated.”

That’s supposed to be the go-to line for awards nights, when people don’t win. But you know what? It is super cool to be possibly eligible for a 2017 Prix Aurora Award in the Novel Category. Because I wrote a book! With words in it and everything!

There are a lot of good books on the Aurora eligibility lists. At this point I sincerely am thrilled to be in such good company. I also want to shout out to my fellow Renaissance peeps for their eligibility, too, because they’re awesome authors:

• Bonhomme Sept-Heures, Evan May
• Sky Road Walker, S.M. Carrière
• Making a Living, Caroline Fréchette
• A Study in Aether, Éric Desmarais

For those who follow this blog, you know that I manage a disability with severe neuropathy and brain fog. So, being able to complete a manuscript was a triumph in itself. I won a victory as soon as I had something that was submittable. Getting published and seeing the book on my coffee table right now—that’s my trophy. The physical copy of my book is a giant EFF YOU to fibromyalgia.

I also began the Spoonie Authors Network in November 2016, in hopes of gathering other authors and writers who love words and manage disabilities and/or chronic illness. As of today, there are ten contributors, including myself, sharing their life and writing journeys. Each guest blogger’s article is like receiving an award, because I feel so encouraged by these writers’ openness and honesty. Their realness is like receiving an unexpected gift.

But yeah, having navigated the nebula of my chronically-fatigued mind to write a coherent book and have that book picked up by the amazing people at Renaissance was like winning the lottery. Truly. And having readers laugh their heads off or cry in all the right places in the story, well, those reviews are my author awards, too.

Anything else that happens is a bonus.

But it’s awesome to see the Life in the ‘Cosm on the list. I won’t lie.

/cg

Cait Gordon is an Irish-Canadian warrior princess and author of Life in the ’Cosm, a space opera about a little green guy who’s crushing on the female half of his two-headed colleague (Renaissance). Cait’s also the editor of the Spoonie Authors Network blog.